The footsteps grew clearer until they reached the entrance of the cave.
A shadow followed the faint light and cast itself inside.
The person seemed to sense something, and instead of entering the cave, stood at the entrance for a moment before a cautious voice rang out.
"Who's in there?"
It was the voice of a grown man.
Yu Xian held his breath and did not respond.
"This cave is my dwelling. If you're a villager or hunter from Great Elm Village or Stone River Village and have stumbled upon this place to rest, please come out. I won't harm you."
The voice came again.
Yu Xian's heart stirred. Although he didn't know who the person was, since the man claimed he wouldn't harm ordinary hunters, perhaps there was no need for him to be so wary.
He just needed to step out and say he was a hunter taking a rest, then leave.
With this thought, Yu Xian nodded to himself and immediately stepped out.
At the cave entrance stood a burly man, around thirty years old, with a solemn expression, looking at the cave.
"Uncle, I'm sorry. I'm a hunter from Great Elm Village, I..."
Yu Xian walked to the cave entrance with an apologetic expression, starting to apologize.
But before he could finish, his pupils suddenly contracted!
The man's face twisted into a snarl, and with a wave of his hand!
A fireball the size of a bowl appeared instantly, hurtling towards Yu Xian, crashing into his chest with a boom!
Bang!
Flames shot out, and Yu Xian was knocked back three meters, spitting out a mouthful of blood, collapsing to the ground, silent.
"Damn ant, how dare you sneak into my cave? Luckily, I went out to gather spiritual herbs today. Otherwise, if you disturbed me during cultivation, wouldn't it ruin my foundation!?"
The man withdrew his hand, looking at Yu Xian lying on the ground, snorted coldly, and stepped forward, intending to kick Yu Xian's body away.
But just as the man lifted his leg!
Yu Xian, who seemed lifeless, suddenly opened his eyes.
The woodcutting knife he had been gripping in his hand instantly stood up, wrapped in a faint spiritual qi, and stabbed straight up!
"What!?"
The man's face changed drastically!
He never expected that a seemingly ordinary fourteen or fifteen-year-old hunter boy, who had taken a fireball to the chest, would survive!
Not only did he survive, but he could also channel spiritual qi!?
He was a cultivator too!!
Slash!
The blade pierced flesh!
Yu Xian, using all his strength, drove the knife from below into the man's abdomen!
"Ah!!"
The man screamed, falling.
Yu Xian, like a leopard, sprang up, blood still flowing from his mouth, but he viciously pounced, pressing down on the man, pulling out the woodcutting knife stained with viscera, raising it high with both hands!
"No! Ah! Fellow Daoist! Don't kill me!!"
Thud!!
The knife pierced through his chest, almost to the hilt.
Warm blood sprayed across Yu Xian's face!
The man's eyes widened, mouth agape, blood bubbling out, opening and closing helplessly like a fish, gasping for a while before finally dying.
Cough, cough, cough!
A fit of violent coughing, accompanied by large mouthfuls of blood, Yu Xian's body tilted, collapsing beside the corpse.
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"Little Xian, never trust anyone... In the world of cultivation, everyone is bad, Little Xian, remember this, everyone you face in the future is bad... Little Xian... you must live well..."
His mother's words echoed in his ears.
***
After an unknown amount of time, Yu Xian suddenly opened his eyes.
It was already afternoon.
The jade pendant on his chest still glowed faintly, but the skin burned by the scorching fireball remained charred and hideous.
Sitting up, the corpse beside him had already stiffened.
It seemed the large beasts around had been dealt with by this man, otherwise, such a bloody scent would have surely attracted them.
"Mother... you were right..."
Looking at the corpse, Yu Xian understood for the first time what it meant that everyone in the cultivation world was bad...
He had done nothing, had no enmity or grudge, it was their first meeting, and he had even apologized.
Yet he tried to kill him! Like squashing a bug!
If not for the jade pendant protecting his heart...
The stiff corpse would have been him!
That fireball was not something a mortal body could withstand!
Only a cultivator could deal with another cultivator...
Luckily, he had his mother's jade pendant protecting his heart, surviving the fireball.
Luckily, the man truly believed he was an ordinary hunter, his guard down, allowing Yu Xian to feign death and deceive him.
Luckily, the man had walked right up to him!
Luckily, he was half a cultivator, with a year's worth of qi cultivation, his physical strength was great, allowing him to pierce through the man's spiritual qi shield with one stab.
It was all luck!
At this moment, Yu Xian's entire body trembled slightly.
After all, he had killed someone.
Even though when he killed the man, Yu Xian was as ruthless as slaughtering a beast, relentless and merciless!
But now, he was still trembling.
Killing a person and killing a beast were different.
Especially when he had walked on the edge of death!
This was the world of cultivation!
In the world of cultivation, it's either you die or I perish!
This time there were so many strokes of luck...
What about next time!?
The world of cultivation... everyone is bad!
Yu Xian's trembling hand clenched into a fist!
Everyone is bad!
After a long silence, Yu Xian slowly calmed his mind, reaching out to search the corpse.
He was a cultivator, and one who could cast spells.
At the very least, he was in the early Qi Condensation stage, perhaps he had some good things on him.
After a thorough search, Yu Xian's eyes lit up.
On the man's waist, he found a short knife with a bronze scabbard. Drawing the blade, it gleamed coldly, exuding spiritual qi.
Much sharper than his woodcutting knife!
A good find!
Continuing his search, Yu Xian found a palm-sized scroll, two white fat bottles, and a token.
The white fat bottles contained medicine, but he didn't know what kind, so he naturally didn't dare to consume it recklessly.
The scroll had the words: Minor Five Elements Spell.
As for the token, it was engraved with five ancient characters: Ascending Immortal White Cloud Sect.
None of these were ordinary items!
Yu Xian quickly collected these items, finally dragging the man's corpse into the cave, and staggered back home.
With the severe injury to his chest, advancing to the Qi Condensation Realm was impossible.
Such a severe injury would take at least a month to heal.
Finding a mountain stream, he washed the bloodstains from his body, and by nightfall, Yu Xian finally returned home.
Enduring the intense pain in his chest, Yu Xian changed his clothes, cooked a large pot of sorghum rice with cured meat, ate it all, and then sat on his bed, exhaling a long breath.
Sitting cross-legged, he closed his eyes, continuing to draw qi into his body.
Spiritual qi washed through his meridians and Qi Sea, also aiding in healing.
***
The night passed quickly.
After a night's rest, the charred black on Yu Xian's chest had faded significantly, and the burnt skin had scabbed over.
Touching the blood scab on his chest, Yu Xian's eyes gleamed, reaching for the scroll still stained with blood.
With a wave of his hand, thunder and fire roared, killing as if squashing ants!
Such divine might... he wanted it too!
Minor Five Elements Spell.
Opening the scroll, the first thing he saw was: Minor Fireball Technique.
Continuing to open, there were: Minor Fireball Technique, Minor Earth Shield Technique, Minor Golden Light Technique, Minor Water Healing Technique, Minor Wood Spirit Technique.
The scroll detailed the methods to cast five spells, and according to the description, the fireball the man had hurled at him was the Minor Fireball Technique.
Unfortunately, these five spells required one to be in the Qi Condensation Realm, with spiritual qi stored in the Dantian Qi Sea, to be cast with spiritual qi.
So even though Yu Xian understood the casting methods, he couldn't practice them, as he hadn't reached Qi Condensation yet.
But this was a great hope!
Yu Xian happily stored the scroll, short knife, and the mysterious token close to him.
Then he got out of bed, washed clothes, prepared vegetables, and tended to the crops in the field.
Killing a cultivator and obtaining a few items seemed like an insignificant episode.
Yu Xian continued his normal life, eating, sleeping, gathering herbs, hunting, tending to crops, drawing qi into his body, cleansing his physique, and healing his chest injury.
***
Two months passed in the blink of an eye.
The weather grew colder, and before he knew it, it was mid-November.
After this month, Yu Xian would officially turn fifteen.
His chest injury had completely healed, leaving only faint scars.
His body was clear, and his Qi Sea was crystalline.
"It's time to condense qi."
After a year and two months of cultivation, Yu Xian knew it was time to condense qi!
Drawing qi to refine the body was like sharpening a knife; when it was at its sharpest, it was time to use it.
If one kept sharpening, it would only backfire, dulling the knife!
Yu Xian was at the perfect moment!
That night.
Yu Xian sat in his room, cross-legged, eyes closed.
It was already past midnight, and the villagers wouldn't disturb him.
As for going into the mountains?
Now, with winter approaching, the beasts in the mountains were all frenzied, hunting everywhere, storing fat for hibernation.
If he went into the mountains now, he would be more likely to be disturbed by wild beasts.
Clearing his mind of distractions, focusing his spirit...
The surrounding spiritual qi continuously gathered into Yu Xian's body.
But this time, they didn't cleanse Yu Xian's body; under the guidance of his spiritual root, they went straight to his Dantian, gathering bit by bit!
The Dantian twisted continuously!
He was about to open his Qi Sea!
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